meniño

See also: menino and Meniño

Galician

Meniños

Alternative forms

• miniño
• meninho, mininho (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese meninho (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria) of uncertain origin. Cognate with Portuguese menino.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mɪ̃ˈnĩɲʊ]

Noun

meniño m (plural meniños, feminine meniña, feminine plural meniñas)

1. baby
   • 1842, Juan Manuel Pintos, Meu querido pai:

     As nosas mulleres
     Subamos de prezo
     Que, ê muito travallo
     È dor mui doente
     Botar á este mundo
     Hum miniño inteiro.
     Com’elas s’estrican,
     Cómo se escrequenan
     Como dan gemidos
     Choros è lamentos,
     Como à côr do rostro
     Toda van perdendo
     È agre bocado
     Qu’a calquer pon medo.

     Our women's
     price we should rise
     because it is hard work
     and aching pain
     to throw to this world
     a whole baby.
     How they stretch,
     how they crouch,
     How they wail,
     cry and lament,
     How the face colour
     they lose entirely.
     It's a sour mouthful
     that makes anyone scared.

   Synonym: bebé

2. infant; kid;
   • Luke 18:15-17:

     E levábanlle tamén os meniños para que os tocase. Pero os discípulos rifábanlles. Entón Xesús chamounos e dixo: ‑Deixade que os nenos se acheguen a min: non llelo privedes, porque dos que son coma eles é o Reino de Deus.

     People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it. But Jesus called for them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.

   Synonym: cativo

3. boy

   Synonym: neno

4. (in the plural) children

   Synonym: nenos

5. little finger

Related terms

• Meniño (a surname)
• meniñeiro

References

• “menino” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “menin” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “meniño” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “meniño” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.